Does it have to do with creating those 'fake' characters for the holotapes?
And somehow the the Game or GECK is trying to find a mesh and texture for the voice?
I forget which part of the tutorial that is

And WOW you already got the Holotapes done?

Yeah, the tapes are done and I am just trying to place the last(actually the first one, but I have placed the other four) one in its location so I can start on the dialogue and getting it all chopped up and put in properly.

Checking now to see if has anything to do with the "fake" npc.

Edit: going to do this the easy way and just see if it crashes while using vanilla. If it wont load the vanilla exterior then I know something is wrong.

Now that is odd. Even if I try to load the cell in question in the vanilla version it still CTDs on me. I have no idea what the hell the problem is. If no one can come up with a suggestion I guess I could try an uninstall/reinstall. . .again
:brokencomputer:

Hmmm PM Miaximus he's a real helpful/friendly guy
He'd know the question to ask you more than I do,
I'm just waving my gun around in the dark pulling the trigger.

Well, I haven't been able to fix anything, so I am essentially unable to place the first holotape at the moment. I made a http://www.gamesas.com/bgsforums/index.php?showtopic=966408 in the geck section to hopefully find someone who can help. This is about the extent of what I can do in this situation so I guess I will just work on the dialogue of the NPC for now and just ignore it. If all else fails I can pass the mod to someone and have them place the tape then give back the modified .esp file.

Oh well, onwards to dialogue.

Well, my other last guess was, you mentioned that the GECK froze, then saved, then crashed?
or some order like that.

I'm wondering if it glitched your esp file, my apologies if I keep pointing you
down dead end hallways.

Maybe try a new esp, adding a couple of lines to the tape (is it possible to add more later?) placing it somewhere
and see if you get the crash.

Just trying to logically step through this

oh, no worries. I have uninstalled/reinstalled the GECK and uninstalled/reinstalled FO3 and it still does it. I have loaded up with just vanilla and tried to load an exterior and whenever I load anything near the vault 101 entrance(I mean even remotely close, like bethesda ruins "close") I get errors then CTD. I have no clue what could be causing it.

You even CTD without using the esp?

That's what I was wondering, if the esp during the freeze, save,
crash got glitched and has some mangled up bits or bytes in it that's causing the crash

Not sure. Guess I can try my archived version but IDK what the problem is so I don't know how to fix it.

Edit: same exact problem even with the archived version. I am out of ideas, guess I could try another uninstall and then defrag my HD before reinstalling. . .doubt it will do much.

Wow, I can't believe that actually worked. I had uninstalled/reinstalled FO3 and the GECK a couple times, but I did the same exact thing only with a defrag before the reinstall and it works completely fine now(even though I am still getting the same error messages).

All five holotapes have been placed, and the text for the NPC dialog has been created. Pretty sure I still have to sort through the dialog and get it working right(hopefully I can find a tutorial on that as well xD) but I am really surprised things have gone this well.

Yikes, I can't get a single bit of dialogue to work in game. It is like the NPC doesn't even realize he should be saying this stuff. All i get are the default canned responses.

Edit: well this svcks. I can't even get his greetings in game in order to troubleshoot them to see if they go from subject to subject without the voice(so that I know if I need multiple topics for every choice or just one topic and then put the multiple answers in it). This guy wont say any of the lines given to him besides the three or four preset "how are you"s that gamesas put in. Anyone know of a guide for this? Yes, I have already looked at the GECK site and it just says the functions, and the TES site is no help whatsoever.

Well, this is the best I can find

http://cs.elderscrolls.com/constwiki/index.php/Audio_Settings_For_Dialogue_Video_Tutorial

Figured out what my problem was, I didn't set the priority high enough. I cranked it up to 75 and now he "says"(just text for now) everything. Just need to get everything sorted out and his dialogue should be ready to start(will be a pain figuring out how to script this as a quest to make certain things do what I want without a proper tutorial though).

Edit: alright, of the things I was working on I have a lot of it figured out.

Create and place the holotapes
Get the first NPC's dialogue working(works but needs to be finished)
Get his packages sorted out
Make sure he awards/drops the item to get the MKII
Decide on Male/Female for quest NPC(the second NPC)
place it with gear/items

I have decided(with help from thedamned and Tyana) on the NPC that upgrades the MKII being female. I have to finish the first NPC before I can start on her, but I have a good place panned out for her. I will do my side of designing her in my spare time(RE: when the other NPC makes me want to break something) to get everything else ready to go. I have nothing on her now, so I will need some time before I even know what kind of VA I am looking for.

Well, it has taken a little bit of sorting through, but I think the dialogue is working. I know how to do it all now so the second NPC will go by fairly quick. The first NPC's dialogue is ~60 done

Create the text for all messages(this is most of the work, getting them to link properly)
Make sure the script function at the end of a topic works properly to advance the quest
Copy and place/rename all of the dialogue related voice files(may need Tyana to make a "good bye" message)
Create a package to be added to the NPC for the "neutral" path(and the scripted addition of said package)
Create the quest item for which you are to retrieve
Create the quest reward
Create quest marker for the NPC(s) whom need to die

Once that is done then MKII will officially be achievable in my mod and I can begin work on the second NPC and the polish work to make sure everything(besides the NPC dialogue which should already be working) runs smoothly. Wow it has been a long time coming, but I really feel good about the progress of this. Tomorrow is going to be a good day to get more work done.


Edit: might help if I actually use the list function properly

Just thought I would do a small update on what is going on

Create the text for all messages(roughly half done with these, gets boggling sometimes)
Make sure the script function at the end of a topic works properly to advance the quest
Make all the .lip files
Copy and place/rename all of the dialogue related voice/.lip files
Create a package to be added to the NPC for the "neutral" path
Create the quest item for which you are to retrieve
Create the quest reward
Create reference marker for the NPC(s) whom need to die

As you can see, the reference for the "bad guys" location has been implemented, and the package has been added to the NPC so that when a certain quest stage is set he goes to the reference and kills one of the NPCs then fights the others(or that is what it is supposed to do, still have to test it all). I have the item made that the NPC sends you to go and get for the "good" path of the quest. I have made the quest reward by just copying another key I liked then renaming and all that jazz.

It looks like I will need a touch more dialogue from you Tyana(of course if that's fine with you xD). I need some sort of farewell message for the NPC to say, even something as simple as "Fine, piss off then" would work and I also need a line or two for when he rewards the item to you, can't believe I forgot those(if you're down I will finish the dialogue I have and then figure out what I want him to say and PM the lines to you).

Also, I am still in need of a cleaned save game from just after(spoiler alert, don't blame me if you read the darkened text). If you have a clean save(fully clean if you would, the less mods running the better) in any of those locations then please host it somewhere so I can download it. If you don't know how to make a clean save but you have a save in that area then PM me and I will tell you how.

OK, just PM the lines when ready

Just a little update.

Create the text for all messages
Make sure the script function at the end of a topic works properly to advance the quest
Copy and place/rename all of the dialogue related voice/.lip files(going to wait on this so I can do them all at once)
Create a package to be added to the NPC for the "neutral" path
Create the quest item for which you are to retrieve
Create the quest reward
Create reference marker for the NPC(s) whom need to die

Oh yeah, the dialog for the first NPC is finished! No more text, all I have to do now is get the last couple of lines from Tyana, convert them to wave format and make the .lip files, then convert the files over to .mp3(the size difference is amazing) and then place and rename all of the voice and .lip files. Know what this means? It means I can begin work on the next NPC!

Going to make a base NPC stand in for now. Not sure if I want to go lab coat or jump suit with her. Guess is depends if I want her to be Moira smart or Doctor Li smart.

Okay, new to do list

Get new lines from Tyana
Make new .lip files
Convert to .mp3(just the files Tyana sends me)
Place and rename all .mp3 and .lip files
Test npc by talking to him, see if all 3 quest outcomes are possible

Oh, before I forget, all five holotapes are required now before you can begin the quest

Just going to update this really quick like.

Get new lines from Tyana
Make new .lip files
Convert to .mp3(just the files Tyana sends me)
Place and rename all .mp3 and .lip files
Test npc by talking to him, see if all 3 quest outcomes are possible

As you can see, the dialog for the first NPC is complete in a technical sense, I still have to go through and test it to make sure he behaves the way I want him to and performs the quest actions. That will take me a bit of playtesting to do, thank gamesas for TGM.

There are bound to be(more than xD) a few problems in his dialog as there are 157 files for his speech alone(that includes holotapes and .lip files mind you) so I may end up recruiting a few people to do it for me. . .so I can sleep sometime today


Edit: I forgot to add this


This post is :turtle: approved

Just thought I would update this once more.


I did a little preliminary testing and I had some issues getting the holotape requirements to work. I will be sleeping in a few as I just reached the. . .32(I think, lets say 28-32 just to be safe) hour mark and my eyes hurt.

Well, for some odd reason the voice files don't want to play as .mp3 now. They were working yesterday, and they aren't today. I hope this is just a small problem I need to ferret out and not something larger that would force me to use .wav(since that would make the voice files all together be more than 30mb in size).

I'll keep working on it, but if anyone has any suggestions I am listening

Wow, now I am having all sorts of odd issues. All of this dialog that was working before doesn't work at all now(never touched the dialog in his quest so idk wtf is up) he wont say anything besides the canned outside of conversation responses and for some odd reason he wont patrol on his pathing like he is normally supposed to. I am going to crack open the GECK and see if I can figure out what is going on with him and I hope this is just some error somewhere on my part.

Alright, got the quests starting point sorted out, again thanks to Miaximus and his knowledge of the holotapes. The quest progresses in such a way that even if you find Dominick you can't begin the part that starts with him until you find at least the prior holotape. I still have to do some testing with his patrolling/wandering to make sure he goes around his little house, I don't want him to just stand there like an idiot(the other quest NPCs as well) so I have to play with their packages(...that sounds wrong) to get them working out right.


To do list

Get packages sorted out
Ensure the "good" and neutral paths both begin and end properly
Begin writing/character design on the second quest NPC(WOOOT!)
Finalize the rough outline of the quest to upgrade the MKII into Tesla

Those are the things on my list for now(because the package testing is going to be fairly time consuming).

To do list

Get packages sorted out
Ensure the "good" and neutral paths both begin and end properly
Begin writing/character design on the second quest NPC
Finalize the rough outline of the quest to upgrade the MKII into Tesla

Alright, the first NPC is done unless bugs are found somewhere in the dialog or packaging(I've spent the past six hours ferreting these out so I would be willing to believe that I missed one or two. . .dozen xD). The quest progresses for each holotape found, giving clues that can be garnered from the tape themselves(only this way you don't have to go back through the tape to remember the clue). Then once you meet with the NPC it completes the tape objectives and gives a new objective pointing to the NPC so you can remember where he is easily. The "evil", neutral and "good" routes all begin and end properly(he even performed better on the neutral route than I thought he would, and to test how well he can do I activated MMM to see if he could plow his way through mutants. . .yeah, he downed a behemoth/gargantuan, don't remember which it is that MMM adds in, solo).

I have now begun writing out what the second NPC will do, although I am having trouble figuring out how I want to introduce her to the player. There is the normal method of just stumbling upon her location and then helping her, I could try to do a radio beacon type thing that is just short range(I have no idea how to do it, but it could be fun) or I could do the semi lame but still accepted method of leaving a note in the player houses in tenpenny or megaton.

The quest to upgrade to Tesla is going to have a few stages, there will be two things(maybe more, nothing has shown itself to be apparent just yet) you have to do for her before she will do anything for you. Once those are done she will become a vendor, selling mostly energy weapons and parts to repair them and power armor(and if I do make it so all PA must be rebuilt from the ground up she will be a prime source of much of this) and she will also offer to repair for you but I am unsure where I want her repair skill to be, since you have to do two things, at least, for her I am thinking 80 is a good place. Once she offers the quest to upgrade the tesla the objective will just be to return to her with all of the needed parts, so there will be a list of items needed to upgrade added to your inventory and the objective marker will just point to her location(again, for easy recollection).

As always, any thoughts or suggestions are welcome, especially at this stage when I am just creating this stuff.

Meh

Well apparently no one even notices when this gets bumped, lol. So I decided to say screw you guys, I'm doing it my way. Poll has been brought down, I am making a radio signal with distress call. It will start the trail to the NPC(I don't know if I can use the radio signal to start the quest with her or not, but if I can then it will tell her location and give a map marker) and you will have to help her before you can even talk to her. I already have the radio signal figured out(it was, oddly enough, very easy compared to figuring out a holotape and that kinda worries me), I have all of the objects created and am placing them right now.

Since the radio is done then I am going to work on an intercom system to be able to speak with her, then I need to figure out how to unlock a door in the quest(again, should be no problem). I have most of her backstory worked out and I kinda have an idea on her personality and dialog(ug, at least this is the last of the dialog I have to do. . .for now anyway).

Good to know people seem to be interested in this -_-